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Wonderful Email from a fan

09-27-2015, 06:45 PM

Hey guys
Today we received a Nice email from one of are fans and we felt that we should share it with you here on are forum.

Dear Paul
I want to thank you again for sending the signed picture of Tom Baker. My son was absolutely delighted when I told him about it. He said he was going to frame it. If this picture was to be sent anywhere else, it would not have been more appreciated than it will be here. With this and a little persuading, I have finally gotten my son to agree to play Elite Dangerous. He wasn’t sure it was his type of game but with some persuading that came from the “Astra Personal Responses” that I just purchased, he agreed. My special message in the pack was having Astra invite him to play Elite Dangerous with her and Midnight. This worked so expect to receive more orders from me so that he can appreciate the voice pack addition, as I do.

With this in mind, I hope you don’t mind me giving you my opinion of your product at this time. Let me begin by saying that as of today, I have logged 812 hours playing Elite Dangerous. I used to play Elite way back when it was on the Commodore 64. Remember those days? I probably logged as many or more hours then as I have already with Elite Dangerous now. I certainly love the game. In all my hundreds of hours of playing this game, I have traveled alone in the cockpit. There have been so many repetitive hours of actions to try and achieve my goals with no sounds but the game sounds included. When I started playing Elite Dangerous, I welcomed the in-game voice that comes with it. Even though there is this voice in the game, I still felt alone doing my tasks flying through space while achieving my goals.

In most video games, the magic of it is in your own imagination. It’s all fantasy of the mind. When you play, you imagine you are a character; either one the game created or one you created for the game. We leave the world of reality and enter a world of illusion. Our minds do this when watching a movie or your favorite television show, as well, but not to the extent of video games do. We virtually become the hero both in actions and in thought. While in this fantasy world, it is most often done alone and with only some interaction with another non-real game entity. Our minds imagine companionship with these characters and to some point, this is successful. Yet, in this realm of imagination and companionship, there always seems to be something that is missing. What is missing is more of a true companion to share this imaginary world with in your mind. After trying out your voice packs, I discovered that you have touched upon the area of the gaming world that is seldom seen or thought of by gaming manufacturers. It’s their purpose to immerse you into their imaginary world to make it your own. This is what sells their game. If they cannot capture your mind’s imagination, the game doesn’t sell. What they have either overlooked or ignored is the desire for the human mind to want to share the experience with someone. Your voice packs are brushing into the area of what is so overlooked in games. Astra is only a vocal response bot but can be used in your fantasy world to create the illusion that you are not alone. She answers questions, performs tasks, and fulfills the human need of companionship.

Today’s gaming emphasizes visuals and graphics. Look at the new systems coming out such as for virtual reality. This is all good and great but is it any better than a movie? In a movie you use no imagination. All the display is created beforehand and leaves little for the mind to do but to watch. Read a book and your mind creates, imagines, and immerses itself in a world that you have at least 50% participation in the creation. In a movie or virtual reality, you do very little. With Astra and the other voice packs, your mind has the opportunity to create what she looks like, envision her personality, and include her as your imaginary friend in the world of over 400 billion systems. We are not alone in Elite Dangerous any more. I noticed this immediately with my first flight with her. Paul, I’m not sure if this was your intention by design or not but you have inadvertently found a niche in gaming that has been missing since their conception.

I have also read in the forums that some people have complained that your videos do not show the truth of your product. They complain that the product doesn’t work like advertised. I strongly disagree. They think in the videos that Astra is an artificial intelligent application, which of course, she is not. In their complaints are they actually telling you something? If you think about it, they’re telling you that they are looking for someone to converse with and interact with in their flight throughout the galaxy. This can be accomplished with Astra but it takes work and using the tool called your imagination. In reading between the lines of their text, they are looking for artificial intelligence as a companion. This should tell you that there is a demand for what you have only brushed upon with your work. Here is what I am saying. You were very smart to conceive the idea of Astra and use a tool on the market to implement her birth. What a GREAT idea you had and I’m sure it has made you somewhat successful. If there is a demand for social interaction with a character in a game, as these people have thought was the case, why not take Astra a step further and design a product that could evolve gaming for the future? Why not take a flight with an AI that understands what you say and ask and responds to virtually anything involving the game and itself? You have touched upon it and have seen its demand. Are there any AI programs out there that can accomplish this? Would an artificial intelligence character in a game diminish the use of your imagination? No, it would embellish it and escalate the participant’s enjoyment many fold. This is what Astra has done for me thus far. I now enjoy Elite Dangerous much more with her inclusion. An AI version of Astra could do so much more. Why not? Years ago no one would believe we would ever have virtual reality headsets. Why not have AI characters in video games?

Finally, I love your products. As I said, it was a great idea and am glad it has blossomed for you. It works well in the game and I am using a Logitech 3D Pro joystick with no problems. Some people just don’t wish to do any work and expect to just install the product and think it should work. You have a tremendous product and I hope all continues to go well for you. I do appreciate the autographed photo of Tom Baker much more than you know. In return, I hope my outlook on your product and its future can help you in some way. Thank you.